Authenticated worker stall via catastrophic regex backtracking
Published Aug 4, 2026 · Updated Aug 4, 2026
Regular-expression denial of service in Open WebUI 0.9.6 and later before 0.11.0 allows remote authenticated users to stall a worker. The build_matcher function compiles metacharacter-bearing chat patterns with Python's backtracking re engine, then grep_knowledge_files synchronously tests them against every reachable file line without a timeout. An ordinary account, one readable uploaded file, and a model that invokes the tool are sufficient; the affected worker blocks other users, and a default single-worker deployment loses the whole instance.
Summary
What happened
Regular-expression denial of service in Open WebUI 0.9.6 and later before 0.11.0 allows remote authenticated users to stall a worker. The build_matcher function compiles metacharacter-bearing chat patterns with Python's backtracking re engine, then grep_knowledge_files synchronously tests them against every reachable file line without a timeout. An ordinary account, one readable uploaded file, and a model that invokes the tool are sufficient; the affected worker blocks other users, and a default single-worker deployment loses the whole instance.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-70493
- Published
- Aug 4, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 4, 2026
- Vendor
- Open WebUI
- Product
- Open WebUI
- Classifications
- CWE-1333, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 4, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 4, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=>= 0.9.6, < 0.11.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- GHSA-2f54-p244-32q6 ReDoS demonstrationproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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